Aptera is focused on avoiding bad trips for its customers. It has invested in aerodynamics so that the trike spends very little energy achieving up to 1,000 miles of range. The slim body will also ensure you won’t need wipers – it will still have a set, recessed at the bottom of the windshield – and will not have issues with noise or even with bugs on the highway. Ironically, it will do all that with a body that uses hemp.
The controversial plant has powerful fibers that make a resistant yet light body when it is mated to the appropriate resins, according to Nathan Armstrong. The Aptera CTO (Chief Technical Officer) talked about that in a Zoom meeting that also had Sarah Hardwick, the company’s CMO (Chief Marketing Officer).
She was the one to announce that Aptera is close to reaching 10,000 pre-orders all over the world. The first market to receive the car by the end of 2021 will be the US. However, Hardwick said Aptera is working hard to make it available to European reservation holders.
Some of them are working to spread the news about the car in their countries. Aptera calls them ambassadors, and there are more than 150 in many countries. Hardwick did not mention where they are due to the little time the Zoom meeting had to address all the questions Armstrong received.
The Aptera CTO talked about the efforts to make the electric trike as light as possible. In that sense, it may skip glass and use polycarbonate to save mass. Armstrong reassured the reservation holders that this would only be the case if they find a polycarbonate that does not get yellow fast and is as good as glass. That’s crucial in a vehicle with Never Charge: if solar power is to help it move, it has to get along with it.
The next Aptera prototype will be called Sol (Sun in Spanish and Portuguese). Chris Anthony, the company’s CEO, said the company is also hiring new people and improving the vehicle’s aerodynamics even more. Armstrong mentioned that it becomes crucial at speeds above 35 mph.
He also said they have an inside joke about bugs at Aptera. Due to its aerodynamical properties, it is very unlikely that the car will hit them on the highway apart from a minimal portion of the trike's front – the ones that are high enough will be saved.